The present invention relates to a system and method for providing a notification protocol for network clients, and in particular, for such a system and method in which the notification protocol uses only standard network communication protocols for detecting the event and performing the notification, such that the system and method could be easily used for different types of networks, and such that the system and method could be used for notification across these different networks.
A notification service enables a subscriber to ascertain whether certain events have occurred, which may be messaging events such as the receipt of an e-mail (electronic mail) message, or other types of messages, such as a voice mail message for example, by the subscriber; or which may be non-messaging events, such as the occurrence of a particular stock price, for example. Currently, a unified notification service for different types of message data does not exist. For example, if a subscriber operates different messaging systems such as those for voice mail and e-mail messages, the subscriber cannot monitor the status of received messages through a single notification service.
Although notification services do exist for e-mail messages, such services are limited in extent. For example, the IMAP4 e-mail network protocol standard, defined in RFC 2060 of the network standards working group, allows for server notification, but does not require such notification to be performed. Furthermore, the IMAP4 network protocol can only be used by an e-mail system client to review the presence (or absence) of messages on a local e-mail system server, but cannot be used to report different types of messaging events for different types of messaging data, nor can it be used to report events in non-messaging systems. Also, the IMAP4 network protocol has the additional disadvantage of requiring an open session to be maintained between the messaging client and the messaging server.
Another example of an attempted solution is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,519, which describes a system in which an e-mail message is sent from one subscriber to another subscriber through a host computer. The host computer then notifies the recipient subscriber of the receipt of the e-mail message by placing a telephone call through the PSTN (public switched telephone network). However, such a system requires all e-mail messages to pass through the host computer, and as such, is similar to other notification systems which are known in the art (see background art FIG. 1 below for further details). In addition, this system requires the use of a call intercept unit, which is a specialized hardware device attached to a telephone, and which intercepts and identifies incoming telephone calls. Thus, the disclosed system fails to provide a universal solution, which does not require specialized hardware.
A company called uReach.com (http://www.uReach.com as of Dec. 9, 1999) has also attempted to provide a solution, in the form of a “national communications service”. This service allows subscribers to retrieve e-mail messages and voice messages through a voice telephone call. In addition, the service sends specific reminders about appointments in the calendar of the subscriber, for example. However, the service does not provide notification of events occurring in multiple event generating systems, since for example the subscriber is not notified of the receipt of a new e-mail message, but only of events described on the calendar stored at the server of uReach.com. Thus, the disclosed service cannot handle events which occur in event generating systems that are not directly connected to the server of uReach.com, and as such, resembles the disclosed system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,519.
A more useful solution would enable a subscriber to receive notifications of the receipt of messages from multiple messaging applications, or of other events generated by other event-generating systems, without requiring that the subscriber be connected to the particular event generating system, or even on the same network as the event-generating system. Such a notification would be received according to standard network protocols, which would preferably be incorporated into the e-mail message server, or other type of event-generating system, itself, rather than through a stand-alone additional server. Also, such notification service would preferably not require an open session to be maintained between the notification server and the event-generating system. Unfortunately, such a notification service does not exist.
There is thus a need for, and it would be useful to have, a system and a method for providing a notification service which would enable the subscriber to determine whether a particular type of event has occurred, without requiring that the event generating system be connected to the same internal network or system as the notification service system itself, yet while using standard network protocols for communication between the notification service system and the event generating system, such that the notification service system can be a separate and independently determined system from the event generating system.